Performance-Based Advertising Blog 
November 2009 Employee Spotlight
We are now far into the last quarter of 2009 and have for you today the next to last Inuvo Employee Spotlight of 2009. For the month of November 2009, we are putting the spotlight on our Art Director, April Kinnelly. April has been part of our team for four years and three months and has been center stage in creating the look and feel of the Inuvo brand and products. Everyone here at Inuvo has April's skill and creative talent to thank for our attractive website. Take a moment and get to know more about April in our interview below.
Inuvo: Hi April! Please, tell us a bit about yourself:
April: I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life, mostly around the Metro-Detroit area. We’re into the Fall season here and it’s my favorite time to be outdoors. Every weekend we aim to have a new outing - the cider mill, nature walks, or even just raking leaves. We try to enjoy every minute before the cold weather hits, which will be here soon :).
Inuvo: What is your professional background?
April: I’ve worked in the design field for over 12 years. In that time, I’ve directed and designed everything from identities and packaging to advertising campaigns and digital experiences. I started working with Kowabunga in July 2005, and quickly became drawn to the online marketing industry. At that time I had a good amount of online marketing experience and was excited to build on that by making it my primary focus.
Inuvo: Any exciting projects you are working on?
April: Yes, I definitely have some exciting projects. Recently, I had the opportunity to help with the Yellowise.com development and am now looking forward to assisting with Localxml. Before that, I worked with Ryan Riggin and Melissa Witt in helping develop the Inuvo brand and guidelines.
Inuvo: What are your goals for November?
April: My goals for November include fine-tuning the brand guidelines to help maintain consistency with both internal and external communication materials and offering new ways to enhance them.
Inuvo: What are your goals for yourself and Inuvo?
April: My ongoing goal for both Inuvo and myself is to stay updated with design trends, offer and implement ideas to assist brand strength and initiatives while helping assist marketing efforts and efficiency.
Inuvo: What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?
April: I really enjoy being part of this new transition and helping promote our “voice” in this market. We have a lot to be excited about and I like the challenge involved in effectively communicating these opportunities to our clients.
Inuvo: When you are not at work, what would we be most likely to find you doing?
April: When not working, I enjoy spending my weekends with my husband Jeff and 15-month-old son, Van. Other past times include renovating our 1920’s bungalow, painting, photography, cooking and reading. I also like to attend upcoming art exhibits at local galleries and museums.
Here’s what some of the Inuvo Team has to say about working with April:
“Having worked with April on various projects the past few years, I have witnessed her atypical ability to combine a business message with an incredible design. Working with her through the company rebranding efforts only furthered my admiration for her talent, as what she has created as the Inuvo brand could not be more on target.” --Melissa Witt, Director, Marketing
"April’s in-depth knowledge and natural eye for design makes her the perfect Art Director. She is wonderful to work with!" --Stacey Farooqui, Community Manager.
Inside Inuvo: Inuvo and the SPCA Pet Walk
Welcome to Inside Inuvo! In this edition we bring you a recap of the latest charitable event we participated in, the SPCA Pet Walk. On Saturday, October 24, 2009, the staff, pets, family and friends of Inuvo took part in the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Pet Walk in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. This was our second year being involved with raising money for the SPCA and taking part in the Pet Walk. We were able to raise $860, which was more than our target fundraising amount! Overall the event raised more than $166,000 to help save stray and abused animals.
The Pet Walk is a one mile walk through the North Shore Park. Additionally, pets are encouraged to come dressed in their Halloween costumes; which are always a big hit! This year, Jessica Lee’s dog Lundy, who was rescued by the SPCA, was a banana. Aleks Jagiella’s dogs came dressed for the occasion as well, with Chica showing off her pumpkin attire and Mac styling a lobster outfit. John Vehlewald’s dog, Izzy, was in attendance as well. Recently a stray rescued by the SPCA, John adopted Izzy just a few weeks ago and they have become fast friends.
It’s never too late to join us in helping save lives! If you’d like to donate to the SPCA, or find out more about their mission, click here. If you have any charities or events you’d like to see Inuvo get involved with, email us at blog [at] inuvo [dot] com with the details.
Special thanks to Jessica Lee for coordinating Inuvo’s participation in this charitable event!
What's New with Inuvo?
Hello! This is Stacey Farooqui, Community Manager at Inuvo. Since we launched the beta version of the Inuvo Platform, we have been very busy! We are now over two months into the beta and things are moving ahead at full-steam. We already have had two feature releases and are planning to continue adding new features on a monthly basis.
Here are just some of the features we have included in the Inuvo Platform:
- Piggyback pixels
- Custom commission rates
- Invitation only offers
- Additional invoices and reports
We have made it easier for you to stay up-to-date with the newest and hottest offers the moment they hit the Inuvo Platform! In this fast-paced environment we all work in, getting in first before an offer is too saturated can make or break your success. We want to provide you with the best tools available, so we have created a Facebook page and a Twitter feed dedicated to Inuvo offer launches. Join us on Facebook and Twitter and you'll never miss out on another hot offer!
Want to stay up-to-date with all of the new features, events and also learn about the Inuvo Team? We have created the Inuvo Community to keep you updated and keep us all in touch. Additionally, we feed all new blog posts and news features to our Inuvo Facebook page and Inuvo Twitter feed. We've made it easy for you to connect with Inuvo and your favorite social websites with our brand new toolbar located at the bottom of each webpage on www.inuvo.com,.
If you have any suggestions or feedback for us, let us know! Also, you can email me at blog [at] Inuvo [dot] com with your ideas and comments. We strive to make the Inuvo your first choice for all of your performance-based marketing needs. We appreciate you being a part of Inuvo and look forward to continuing to serve you!
Advertiser Corner: Differentiating Your Offers
In this edition of Advertiser Corner we have some great ideas from Shelby Nousain, Business Development Manager, on how to stand out from the crowd. Many of you have already worked with Shelby in the PrimaryAds Network. If you haven’t worked with him yet, make sure to reach out to him at shelby [dot] nousain [at] inuvo [dot] com and set a time to meet up at ad:tech New York!
Competition has recently become increasingly intense for CPA advertisers. Between bidding wars to keep publishers from jumping ship, similar offers with slightly higher payouts, and the Fedral Trade Commission (FTC) cracking down on landing page language, it has been progressively more difficult to produce a profitable offer. How do you differentiate yourself from the masses to produce a unique, profitable offer? In this blog I’ll discuss two ideas that will help you ensure you are on your way.First, go International! In life we’ve all learned that to be truly successful you have to go where everyone else isn’t. If a product or service is successful in the US, there’s a good chance that it would be successful in Europe, or maybe Australia. Not only is keyword bidding cheaper, but by bringing a success product to a new market, you are setting things up for massive growth. Imagine if you were one of the first to create an acai offer just 12 months ago!
Second, get niche focused. Take a product and make it more niche focused. The most successful offers on our network have laser targeted landing pages, focusing on a niche market. Instead of making a general debt offer, why not create a debt offer targeted towards college students or foreclosed home owners? The landing pages with the highest EPCs and conversion rates are targeted towards a very specific audience and can address their very specific needs. This will make an offer much more attractive to publishers as well, as they tend to have specific markets they work with.
Those are two ways in which advertisers can stay ahead of the game and find success in an increasingly competitive market. Heed this advice and bring your offer to the Inuvo Platform! You can sign up here https://platform.inuvo.com/register/advertiser/new or contact me at Shelby [dot] nousain [at] inuvo [dot] com.
Publisher Corner: PrimaryAds Migration to the Inuvo Platform
During the month of October we have started the migration from the PrimaryAds network to the Inuvo Platform. If you are a current PrimaryAds publisher, your existing links will continue to track as normal. The main change is that all new offers will only be available in the Inuvo Platform. Also, you will have access to more exclusive offers, as well as a broader range of offer types.
If you haven’t already, we strongly encourage you to sign up in the Inuvo Platform. Doing so will get you access to all of the hot new offers we are launching daily. To get started, just click on your current Affiliate Manager’s sign up link below and you will automatically be assigned to them.
Click to sign up with Stephanie Bernier.
Over the next few weeks we will continue this transition and be fully up and running exclusively in the Inuvo Platform. We are ready to help make this transition an easy process for you, so contact your Affiliate Manager on how to get started! If you are a current PrimaryAds advertiser, please contact shelby [dot] nousain [at] inuvo [dot] com (Shelby Nousain) or chris [dot] gerbick [at] inuvo [dot] com (Chris Gerbick) for details on how to start your transition to the Inuvo Platform.
We look forwarding to working with you in the Inuvo Platform!
Advertiser Corner: Tips for Recruiting Publishers
Do you have a solid offer but you need help getting the right publishers promoting it? We have come up with a list of quick tips you should keep in mind to help in your search for quality publishers.
- Get Active Where Publishers Hang Out: Become a member of forums and recruit from there. A lot of people won’t really respond unless you are an active member and you’ve gained the respect of people on that forum.
- Research Publishers on Search Engines: Search keywords for a particular vertical you are recruiting for and see who owns the domains that show up in the results and contact those people directly.
- Ask For Referrals: Get publishers you already work with to refer quality publishers they know. Nothing’s better than a personal referral to get the right publishers on board!
- Attend Conferences: Get out there and meet people face to face. This will get you face-time and recognition in the community and improve your professional network. (Meet up with Inuvo at ad:tech New York November 4-5 and we can help point you in the right direction!)
- Reciprocate: Get involved in the performance-based marketing community. People will talk to you and see what you can do to help them make more money and vice versa.
- Become a Premium Advertiser on Inuvo: Not only will you earn credibility by showing publishers you are a serious, dedicated advertiser but Inuvo will also push your offer through our social media touch points. To find out more about the benefits of being a Premium Advertiser, email us at sales [at] inuvo [dot] com.
Looking for more tips? Email us at blog [at] inuvo [dot] com or put you comment below.
Publisher Corner: Benefits of Working with your Inuvo Affiliate Manager
Having been on both the affiliate and Affiliate Management sides of this industry, I can truly see the benefits of working closely with your Affiliate Manager (AM). Many people don’t take time to work with an AM and decide to do things on their own in affiliate marketing. That method can work if you know the business well, but there are definite advantages to collaborating with your AM. First, AMs have the inside scoop on what offers are performing the best overall. They have access to stats for every offer and can help analyze that information to aid your decision on which offers work best for your niche and method of promotion.
AMs can also help you find the type of offer you need. Have you ever searched multiple networks without being able to find the type of offer you are looking to run? As an affiliate, I’ve had this frustration, but I worked with my AMs to see if they could have their sales team dig up the type of offer I was looking for. Because of my releationship with my AM, I was able to ask for more specific offer requests.
For new affiliates, the benefit of working with an AM is tremendous. Because most AMs have been on both sides of the industry, they can help you put you on the road to success. Helping affiliates succeed and make more money should be any good AM’s goal. If you are working with an AM that is not helping you reach your goals, it’s time to discuss your goals with them or seek out another option!
If you are new to affiliate marketing, new to Inuvo, or just have not reached out to us in the past, please feel free to contact our Affiliate Management team to get the answers or offers that you need. We want you to do well and we want you to be completely satisfied with the products and services we offer. If there is anything we can do personally to help you ramp up your efforts and reach your goals with Inuvo, you can reach us at publishers [at] inuvo [dot] com.
Inuvo and the Race for the Cure Recap
Saturday, October 3, 2009, Inuvo participated in the 11th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at the Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race and the Inuvo team had a great turnout. Our team ended up raising well over $1000 for this cause!
The weather was perfect and we all got to enjoy a fun time together as a team, with our family and friends. In the spirit of teamwork and community, everyone was wearing their Inuvo Race for the Cure shirts and Jessica Lee brought pink ribbons for everyone to wear.
We were all impressed when our very own Shelby Nousain came in 4th place out of thousands of participants for the 5k run with a total time of 19:02 and a pace of 6:08. Way to go, Shelby! “In my opinion the Race for the Cure was a huge success, both for Inuvo as well as the Susan G Komen foundation,” Shelby Nousain says. “Finishing 4th in the race was great, but when I’m asked about the event the first thing I would say is that I had a great time with co-workers & good friends while helping out a worthwhile cause.”
It is possibly the greatest feeling to know we were a part of something so powerful. To know we all came together and helped a cause so strong is a priceless feeling. If you have any charitable events you’d like Inuvo to get involved with, please contact us at blog [at] inuvo [dot] com with the details. If you’d like to see more photos of this event, join us on our Facebook Fan Page.
Special thanks to Jessica Lee for helping to organize our team!
Join Inuvo at ad:tech New York!
November is closer than you think and soon ad:tech New York will be upon us. The Inuvo Team will be attending the show November 4-5 and we are anxious to meet with you! We have a lot to share in regards to the Inuvo Platform, and want to hear how we can help boost your revenue.
- Publishers, did you know you can earn extra commission by referring new publishers to the Inuvo Platform?
- Advertisers, did you know you can refer your own publishers and put more money in your pocket?
We are scheduling meetings now, so contact us soon to ensure you don’t miss out! With an in-depth knowledge of performance-based marketing and a passion for connecting with new and existing clients, we can assist you with developing new ways to help you grow your revenue. See you in New York!
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Danielle Eager |
Chris Gerbick |
Shelby Nousain |
Advertiser Corner: The Holidays are Almost Here!
Looking for an extra push from your publishers during the holiday season to get you an end of the year bounce? Now is a great time to start planning ahead! If you don’t already have holiday-themed creative available, now is the time to start developing these items and loading them into the Inuvo Platform for your publishers to run with.
Publishers also get busier during the holiday season. Being proactive will ensure your offers get the attention they need, and will earn you some well-valued appreciation from your publishers by taking some of the holiday stress off of them. Work on getting these items up in the Inuvo Platform well in advance so you can allow your publishers plenty of time to grab them and get them up and running! Your publishers will be able to drive more traffic to your offers during the holiday season if you have provided them with specific creative they can use to target each holiday. Before you know it, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and the New Year will be upon us in the United States market. Taking the time to target and optimize your emails and banners during each holiday will help you and your publishers generate more revenue. And, who doesn’t need some extra money in their pockets?
If you have offers available for traffic in other countries, make sure you first research their holidays before providing holiday creative. Familiarize yourself with the correct customs and symbolism associated with the holiday so as to avoid embarrassing mistakes. Last Fall I received creative from an overseas advertiser targeted for Thanksgiving, but the creative was filled with American Flags, fireworks and a prominent red, white and blue background, which made it look like it was intended for the Fourth of July holiday. Needless to say, this didn’t go over well with their customers in the United States!
In general, it is a good idea to constantly work on refining your messaging and optimizing your creative. Some of the hottest offers I have seen are offers that produce brand new creative on a monthly basis. They also make sure to target any holiday or major cultural events, like Tax Day and use current event themes, like the Recession or Health Care Reform, if is it a good fit for them. When a hot topic comes up in the news that you can use to market your offer off of, seize it and use it to your advantage. If you have a solid offer, new creative can renew interest from publishers and revitalize your numbers.
If you are looking for any other tips, drop a line to blog [at] inuvo [dot] com.
